Market growth creates a bright future for silicon thin film technology

The merger and reorganization of the entire photovoltaic industry in the past few months has caught the industry as a whole. IMS research shows that because people foreseen Asia will become a prosperous market. The photovoltaic market in 2012 was first driven by the prosperity of the Indian and Chinese markets. Market demand will in turn create new records, but no one expected the arrival of fierce industry mergers and acquisitions.

The Swiss engineering company Oerlikon Solar emphasized: But those who think photovoltaic products are about to disappear are wrong. At the same time, the company also gave insights into the photovoltaic industry.

Oerlikon Solar’s ​​director of strategic sales and product marketing said Dr. Reinhard Benz: The market’s expansion will lead to increased demand for photovoltaic modules and the establishment of photovoltaic production plants in markets such as the United States and Japan, as well as mature markets. Those companies that are making great innovations will benefit from this trend and will vigorously consolidate the company's development.

Developing Silicon Thin Film Technology to Position Future Market Prosperity

Although Japanese companies plan to acquire Oerlikon Solar, Oerlikon Solar has also developed silicon thin-film technology to prepare for the market boom that will come in 2013. Consulting agencies such as Solarbuzz predict that the PV equipment market will recover significantly in 2013. Large-scale photovoltaic suppliers will accordingly double their investment to build photovoltaic modules and solar cell processing plants. Although the industry is still in a state of oversupply, the product line cannot achieve the necessary economic efficiency and efficiency level, and the current production line must be updated or completely replaced. The operating costs of old factories far exceed those of factories using Oerlikon Solar technology. Since these companies invested 150 million euros in Mikromorph technology, the industry's competitiveness has been greatly improved over the past four years.

Minimize costs through technological innovation

Oerlikon Solar's successful innovation has laid a solid foundation for the continued development of technology. Oerlikon Solar's engineers reduced the cost of producing battery modules by 70%, while increasing production by 125% and battery module power generation efficiency by 24%. OerlikonSolar's integrated turnkey production line ThinFab?140, which was completed in 2012, has set a global standard for producing environmentally friendly solar modules at a minimum cost of 0.35euros/Wp. This is the industry's lowest cost for producing battery components. This is the lowest cost through various innovations. Innovations include optimization tools, amorphous silicon, polysilicon absorption layer plasma chemical vapor deposition, and the use of a highly environmentally friendly F2 cleaner KAI reactor. Only a smaller amount of F2 needs to be released to achieve a higher corrosion rate. All of these innovations have reduced production costs, shortened production cycles, and increased production line capacity. The greater investment in research and development has greatly promoted innovations that are of great significance to the times and further reduced the prices of products.

Market growth creates a bright future for silicon thin film technology

Oerlikon Solar has been focusing on the growth of the Asian market since a certain time in the past, and has further highlighted the market share of photovoltaic power plants in the photovoltaic market. Compared with polysilicon technology, silicon thin film technology shows many advantages. At high temperatures, Oerlikon Solar produces battery modules that generate 5 to 10% more electricity than typical battery packs. Micromorph film technology has the opportunity to occupy the vast majority of the Japanese market share. By establishing a subsidy program, Japan will become the core market of the future from this summer. And there is no need to worry about the competition from CdTe because the Japanese government did not mention the technology because the pollution is too high. The production of thin film photovoltaic technology does not require the addition of additives such as heavy metals, which are not subject to current and future market restrictions.

Establishing Local Production Lines in Prosperous Markets Is Urgent

In some emerging solar markets such as the Middle East, some countries are increasingly trying to support local production lines. Correspondingly, the interest of local companies in the production of photovoltaic products has also increased significantly in the past few months. Due to the difficulties and the current sales prospects in these markets, these countries generally favor individual integrated production lines, but at the same time these battery components must be produced at low cost. In addition to the lowest cost of production of battery modules, the Oerlikon Solar battery production line can produce 91,0000 photovoltaic cell modules per year, which is equivalent to 140MW annual production, and the calculation of the total cost per watt of power production capital guarantees and technical service fees are also included. 0.75euro. For these countries, this is the most attractive product currently on the market.

Niche Market Shows Interest in Silicon Thin Film Technology

The increasing cooperation between solar companies, building designers and builders in the world has also provided new market opportunities for PV suppliers. Pike Research expects that by 2017, BIPV in the collective PV market will grow to 4.6 GW, making BIPV one of the fastest growing market segments in the solar market. Since the products produced by the silicon thin film technology are all transparent or semi-transparent, the products can also be used in combination with the color filter, further widening the application range of the silicon thin film. These battery components cater to the aesthetic needs of developers and building designers, so the demand for such products is very strong. Even the MIMTM, Oerlikon Solar's original battery mounting technology, is similar in function to the button principle and is an excellent choice for BIPV applications.

Improve the "Swiss quality" brand connotation

As industry experience becomes more abundant, product quality issues will become more and more important. Oerlikon Solar customers value the brand promise of Swiss quality. For example, Oerlikon Solar conducts rapid product life testing on battery packs, which is just one of the company's many excellent services. The battery is tested under the most stringent conditions and far exceeds the T?V requirement. This is what we call: "Biased Damp-Heat Tests". In the test, the battery was operated five times longer than the TUV test at 80% humidity and higher voltage, and the battery assembly did not experience a significant drop in power generation efficiency. Everyone benefits from this test result: technology suppliers, photovoltaic module manufacturers, and photovoltaic power plant operators. Moreover, Oerlikon Solar's customers are grateful for the additional services provided by Oerlikon Solar. These services are integrated in the warranty period of PV modules, combining technology, scale production and production line maintenance services provided by experienced engineers. This service ensures that customers can quickly mass-produce and profit quickly, greatly reducing the risks borne by customers and participating investors.